Iraq targets $7B investment for 2025, focuses on tourism
Shafaq News/ The Iraq DevelopmentFund is playing a key role in facilitating planned investment projects worth upto $7 billion, said the fund's executive director, Mohammed Al-Najjar, onFriday.
Founded in 2023, the fund aims tocreate a conducive investment environment and foster private sector growth.
A French business delegationrepresenting 30 companies met with various Iraqi government bodies, asAl-Najjar, also serving as Investment Advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister MohammedShia Al-Sudani, mentioned in an interview with Al-Sharq TV. The visit is reportedlyexpected to yield projects with investments totaling up to $4 billion acrossvarious untapped sectors where the French have expertise, including healthcare,environment, public transportation, and smart agriculture.
"The fund's mission is tostimulate both local and foreign private sector involvement in projects withinthe country," Al-Najjar added, noting significant interest from localinvestors and expressing hope for similar results internationally.
Regarding the tourism sector, theDevelopment Fund launched the Hadara (Civilization) initiative several monthsago, aimed at creating an investment company in partnership with both Iraqi andforeign investors to develop tourist resorts at the country's archaeologicalsites, according to the official. “Iraq is home to around 12,500 UNESCO-listedsites that remain underutilized.”
“The fund is expected to attract upto $1 billion in investments to Iraq's tourism sector in 2025,” he continued. “Thesector has immense potential, but it requires billions to fully activate.”
As part of its efforts to diversifythe economy and reduce dependence on oil, Iraq is planning 21 tourism projectsto align with Baghdad's selection as the Arab Tourism Capital for 2025 by theArab Tourism Organization.
